“Be at War with your Vices, at Peace with your Neighbors, and let every New-Year find you a better Man.” – Benjamin Franklin
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First Principles: Be At War With Your Vices, At Peace With Your Neighbors, and Let Every New Year Find You A Better Man
Posted in First Principles
Tagged Benjamin Franklin, Better Man, First Principles, Neighbors, New Year, Peace, Vices, War
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Bring On the New Year
Bring On the New Year
by Michael Doyle
As my daughters and I take our moment to reconnect
The newsman sings his warnings about a polar vortex
We don't care because we are warm and safe inside
In our cozy corners, where each of us quietly confides
Our secrets to each other and to our friends
Seeking our amusement and trust in a world of pretends
Sharing The Sound of Music as is our tradition
We offer each other laughter and love without condition
It seems everyone has their place to be
Mine is wherever and whenever they're with me
I indeed love them more than any other part of life
Our joys and good times bring feelings that are rife
Tomorrow is the first day of the next year
We bought sushi and sparkling juice for cheer
And we wait, watching shows and talking about goals
Filled with aspirations of what we do and don't know
My other love lives on the world's other side
It's just something to contend with and, sadly, abide
I cannot wait until the days will be so much better
The days when finally we live our lives together
It seems everyone has their place to be
Mine is wherever and whenever she is with me
I indeed love her more than just about any other part of life
She and my daughters bring good times and feelings that are rife
This old year is quickly beginning to slip away
Tomorrow, we'll watch the Rose Parade on New Year's Day
Each of us will take part in giving our contribution
Telling maybe one or two of our New Year's resolutions
At midnight, we'll toast the fireworks flying high
Dancing across this city's unlit portions of the sky
We will think about the good and bad of so many things
Until someone plays guitar while another sings
It seems everyone has their place to be
Mine is wherever and whenever my memories are with me
I indeed have loved the passing years of this life
With so much to given and be given with love tender and rife
(c) December 31, 2024 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged 2025, Adventure, Amusement, Bring On, Care, Confide, Cozy Coerners, Daughters and I, Each Other, Everyone, First Day of the Next Year, Friends, Good Times, Joy, Laughter, Life, Love, Mine, Moment, Music, New Year's Eve, Newsman, Offer, Place, Poetry and Poems, Polar Vortex, Reconnect, Secrets, The New Year, The Sound of Music, Tomorrow, Tradition, Trust, Warm and Safe, Warning, Whenever They're With Me, Without Condition, World of Pretends
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Thought For the Day: One Ought Every Day At Least, To Hear A Little Song, Read A Good Poem, See A Fine Picture, and, If It Were Possible, To Speak A Few Reasonable Words
“One ought every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and, if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship
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Tagged "One ought every day at least, and, Every Day, Fine Picture, Hear, if it were possible, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Ought, Poem, Possible, Read, read a good poem, Reasonable Wods, Reasonable Words, See, see a fine picture, Song, Speak, Wlhelm Meister's Apprenticeship
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First Principles: The Only Limit To Our Realization of Tomorrow Is Our Doubts of Today
“The only limit to our realization of tomorrow is our doubts of today.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt
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Tagged Doubt, First Principles, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Only Limit, Realization, Today, Tomorrow
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First Principles: There Is Nothing Which I Dread So Much As A Division of the Republic Into Two Great Parties, Each Arranged Under Its Leader, and Concerting Measures In Opposition To Each Other
“There is nothing which I dread so much as a division of the republic into two great parties, each arranged under its leader, and concerting measures in opposition to each other. This, in my humble apprehension, is to be dreaded as the greatest political evil under our Constitution.” – John Adams, Letter to Jonathan Jackson (2 October 1780), “The Works of John Adams”, vol 9, p.511
As it turns out a challenge has been made about Adams having said today’s prior First Principle. In recognition that reliable sources can be wrong, I have added this First Principle for today.
Time Keeps Moving On
Time Keeps Moving On
by Michael Doyle
All these things I meant to do
The greatest being loving you
It seems I made the plans right
But they escape into another night
All these days, they seem to go
Moving faster than my own flow
I always mean to get this right
But it escapes into another night
Time, it seems, keeps moving on
What was tomorrow is already gone
Year after year, I keep holding on
I need to make this a dream to depend on
It happens to me quite a lot
Another year passed with my plans forgot
I wish it was something to count on
I look behind me at all my yesterdays gone
New Year's Eve is creeping up on me
With most of my hopes a burnt-out memory
Whispering regret into my wounded ears
Whatever happened to all my years
Time, it seems, keeps moving on
What was tomorrow is already gone
Year after, I keep holding on
I need to make this a dream to depend on
I write out my list of how I want to be
Like a million other times, I wished for me
The waves of my life crushed on a rocky shore
I keep clinging on for a little more
When I look into your beautiful eyes
It's not all that hard to recognize
That you are the best of my broken life
If I can win this time, you'll be my wife
Time, it seems, keeps moving on
What was tomorrow is already gone
Year after, I keep holding on
I need to make this a dream to depend on
Our worlds collide with a heavy sigh
We hold on tight, not merely passing by
It's easy to see you are the best of me
I feel the truth of our treasured eternity
Every time that you reach out for my hand
I know things that I can't really understand
We live on two sides of this world's crust
I suppose it all comes down to living on trust
Time, it seems, keeps moving on
What was tomorrow is already gone
Year after, I keep holding on
I need to make this a dream to depend on
(c) December 30, 2024 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged All My Years, Another Night, Best, Best of Me, Broken Life, Burnt-Out Memory, Clinging On, Count On, Creeping Up On Me, Crushed, Days, Depend On, Dream, Escape, Eternity, Flow, Forgot, Get This Right, Go, Gone, Hand, Happens, Heavy Sight, Hold On tTight, Holding On, Hopes, List, Living On Trust, Loving You, Meant To Do, Million Other times, Moving Faster, Moving On, Need, New Year's Eve, Plans, Plants, Poetry and Poems, Recognize, Rocky Shore, Time, Tomorrow, Truth, Two Sides, Understand, Want To Be, Waves, Whispering Regret, Wife, Win This Time, Wished For Me, World's Crust, Worlds Collide, Wounded Ears, Write Out, Year After Year, Yesterdays Gone, Your Beautiful Eyes
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First Principles: Children Should Be Educated and Instructed In the Principles of Freedom
“Children should be educated and instructed in the principles of freedom.” – John Adams
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Tagged Children, Educated, First Principles, Freedom, Instructed, John Adams, Principles
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Thought For the Day: History Is A Guide To Navigation In Perilous Times. History Is Who We Are and Why We Are the Way We Are
“History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. History is who we are and why we are the way we are.” – David McCullough
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Tagged David McCullough, Guide, History, Navigation, Perilous Times, Thought For the Day, Who We Are, Why We Are
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God’s Good Purpose
God's Good Purpose
by Michael Doyle
It is less about the should-ness
Then it is about the goodness
God is gracious despite our deeds
In His inspiration, He sows good seeds
Abounding in love, He reaches
With mercy, He quietly teaches
All the growth that we can grow
To become all that we might know
With all the wisdom spoken
There is healing for hearts broken
We Christians walk in fellowship
Spreading the gospel beyond our worship
Giving and sharing in praise
We live the love of our living days
Each moment is a true blessing
It's best to not leave others guessing
Instead of pointing each other to god in the new year
The Lord knows each smile and all our tears
We have seen all of God's mighty acts
In our snapshots that prove these facts
With grace, we live and walk
Faithful and forgiving as we talk
God speaks to us through our days
We should follow His guidance in our ways
Turning toward each other, we face
The need for gratitude and mutual grace
Life's seasons need their release
For this reason, we need to cultivate peace
There is so much in life to discourage
Let's turn to one another instead and encourage
Hard times come and do exist
Paul's life proves that we must persist
More than I could ask in my redemption
Is my God, who is beyond all comprehension
The Lord has shown His ways
Bringing me through the best and worst of days
There is a fullness in the good story
The kind that brings out God's glory
This is the life lived in true service
As we fulfill God's every good purpose
(c) December 29, 2024 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged God, Good Purpose, Goodness, Grace, Growth, Hearts Broken, Inspiration, Know, Love, Mercy, Poetry and Poems, Reach, Teach, Wisdom Spoken
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Thought For the Day: To Be Grateful Is To Recognize the Love of God In Everything He Has Given Us – and He Has Given Us Everything
“To be grateful is to recognize the Love of God in everything He has given us – and He has given us everything. Every breath we draw is a gift of His love, every moment of existence is a grace, for it brings with it immense graces from Him. Gratitude therefore takes nothing for granted, is never unresponsive, is constantly awakening to new wonder and to praise of the goodness of God. For the grateful person knows that God is good, not by hearsay but by experience. And that is what makes all the difference.” – Thomas Merton
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Tagged Awakening, Difference, Every Breath, Every Moment, Everything, Existence, Experience, Gift, God, Good, Goodness, Grace, Graces, Grateful, Grateful Person, Gratitude, Hearsay, His Love, Praise, Recognize, Take Nothing For Granted, The Love of God, Thomas Merton, Thought For the Day, Unresponsive, Wonder
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